Foreign investment takes a turn for the worse

Monday, 4 Nov 2013 | 9:10 AM ETCNBC.com

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Global investment activity fell by nearly a third in the second quarter of 2013 following two consecutive quarters of growth, according to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD said that this dip marked a return to the steady downward trend in foreign direct investment (FDI) seen at the start of 2012. However, unlike during the early stages of the global economic crisis five years ago, when emerging economics helped limit the slowdown, there was a decline in FDI across the board.

Outward investment from OECD countries decline by 20 percent to $155 billion while inward inward investment into OECD nations fell by a greater amount, 26 percent, to $137 billion. There are 34 OECD members, which include the U.S., U.K. Japan and Germany.

The OECD said there was a collapse in international investment from Russia, after the country had recorded its highest level of investment outflows in the first quarter due to the TNK-BP Rosneft deal. This meant there was a decline in investment from non-OECD G20 countries of 92 percent, dropping from $82 billion to just $6.5 billion.

China, the U.S., and the U.K. received 47 percent of FDI inflows in the second quarter of this year, with China receiving 21 percent, or $61 billion.

The U.K.'s FDI inflows increased from $34 billion to $41 billion in the second quarter, while the U.S. also saw an increase from $29 billion to $38 billion. Mexico saw its highest level of investment inflow from $5 billion to $18 billion.

Countries which experienced significant inflow decreases were Canada, with a drop of 41 percent, and Spain, which saw a 48 percent decrease.

The strong figures from the U.S.should be welcome news for President Barack Obama, who last week announced that Washington would expand its efforts to entice foreign firms to bring jobs to the U.S, as well as pledging that top administration officials would now advocate greater coordination in locating production and investment in the country.